Insulated rail-joint.



W. H. SBLLEW & B.. A. EVBRETT. INSULATBD RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 15, 190.9.' y 1,022,884. y Patented Apr. 9, 1912.

' 3 suns-sunm- 2.

- UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIeE.

WILLIAM H. SELLEW, `F DETROIT,

To all whom it mayA concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM H. SEL- LEW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, Wayne county, Michigan, and EDWARD A. EVERETT, a citizen of the United kStates, residing at Highland Park, in the county ofAWayne, State of Michigan, have invented certain new/and useful Improvements in Insulated Rail-Joints; and we d'0 declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification. I

This invention relates to an-insulated rail joint for railway rails, and consists in the vconstruction and arrangementof parts hereinafter more fully set forth and pointed out particularly in the claims.

. rail joint embodying our invention.

A' f The primaryobject of the invention is to provide simple and elicient means for electrically insulating the ends of railway rails to form electrically divided blocks, as in the f block signal system.

A further .object is to provide for joining the ends of the linsulated rails in a manner to render the joints strong and durable and at the same time provide for electrically insulating the joined parts.

j A further object is to so construct the joint that its parts may be readily assembled orconnected and quickly and easily disconnected,

A further object is to so dispose the parts forming the joint that the strain of the passing train may be carried without causing the joint to sag or destroy the efficacyv of the insulation between the joined parts. A furtherv object is to provide an insulated rail joint of such character that the parts of the joint bearing on the rail 'shall be of the same electric valueas the rail itself, obviating the necessity of insulating lsaid parts from the rail.`

The above objects are attained by the ystructure illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fi re 1 is an elevation of Fig. 2 is a longitudinalvsection therethrough, as

`an insulated AND EDWARD-A. VERETT, 0F HIGHLAND PARK,

lVllCHIG-AN.

INSULATED RAIL-JOINT.

specification gf Letters raten/c. 'Patented Apr. 9, 191,2. Application filed November 15, 1909. Serial No. 528,261',

on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of two rail ends with the parts forming the joint mounted thereon but disconnected, the divided splice bars being shown bolted to the websof the rails. Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section through the projecting members on the meeting ends of the divided splice bar carrying the registering tenons and sockets through which pass the tapered tie bolts which receive the nuts adapted to'screw onto said bolts and into said sockets, the parts being disassembled and the bolts appearing in elevation, the lineof said sectionbeing indicated at in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is an inverted horizontal section through the two :lower `tie bolts and associated parts of the opposed splice bars, said section being taken on line 5 5 of Fig. l, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows. Fig. G is an end elevation of one part of the divided splice bar, said part being the one carrying the tenons through which the tie bolts pass. Fig. 7 is a similar view of the opposite part of the divided splice bar, said part having the sockets which receive said tenons at one end, and into the opposite ends .of which are screwed the nuts which engage said bolts. Fig. 8 is an elevation of an insulated joint, showing a slight modification of our inven* tion. Fig. 9 is'a horizontal section as on line. 9-9 of Fig. '8. Fig. 10 is an elevation of t-he'joint shown in Figs. 8 and 9 disconnected, showing in section a pair of the coupling members on one side thereof. Fig'. l1 is a perspective view of the strip of insulation employed bctween the meeting ends of the lparts of the splice bar.

Y In insulating rail joints where the continuous splice -bars have been employed which cross the joint between the ends of the rails, it has been found difficult to maintain a perfect electrical insulation because of the necessity of insulating the lapping ends of the splice bars from the rails', which insulation is diflicult to maintain `in a perfect state, owing to the movement between said parts and the abrasive wear to which the insulation is necessarily subjected 1n such av structure. IVe overcome the objection incident to the continuous splice bar by dividing the splice bar which ywe em,-

ploy transversely and electrically insulating rso the joined ends thereof as well as the ends of the rails.

Referring to thevcharacters 'of reference on the accompanying drawingsnvherein we have illustrated the preferred Inode of ap- .plying our invention, l designates the railway rails, which may be of any suitable form, and the webs of which at their ends are apertured to receive the transverse bolts that join the splice bars thereto. Instead of employing continuous splice bars in effecting our insulated joint, we make each bar in two parts, comprising the part 2 and the part 3 which are associated in pairs, and use a pair of said parts upon each side of the rail joint. As the splice barsmust be sulficient-ly strong t carry the weight of the train when crossing the joint between the rail ends, provision must be made Whe-re the splice bars are divided transversely as in our structure for joining the parts thereof in a manner to render them sufficiently rigid to carry the necessary load, and at the same time altord means for effecting an electr1 cal insulation between the parts of the bar. This we accomplish by adding to the end of the part 2 of the splice bar, which is of the ordinary angular form in cross section, a lateral projection 4;

ln one form of our invention, as shown in Figs. 1 to 7 inclusive, the vertical face of the projection 4 is provided with a ta* pered tenen 5, and formed through said projection andthrough said tenen is a tapered aperture 6, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. Depending from the projecting portion 4 of the part 2 of the splice bar and formed integral therewith and integral with the base flange of said part 2 is a barrel-like member 7. This barrel-like member extends below the base 8 of the rail which lies in the opening 9 (see Fig. 6) between the base or bottom iiange of the part 2 of the splice bar and said member 7. Projecting from the inner end of the member 7 is a tapered tenen 10, and formed through member 7 and through said tenen is a tapered aperture 11. Passing through the tapered aperture 6 and extending from the tenen 5 is a tapered bolt 12, the taper of which coincides with the taper of the aperture 6 and which is provided at its projecting end with screw threads 13. Passing through the tapered aperture 11 and projecting from the tenon 1() is a tapered bolt 14, the taper of which coincides with the taper of said aperture 11 and which is provided at its projecting end with ascrevv thread 15, and at its opposite end with a head 16. The bolt 12 is insulated from the wall of the tapered aperture through which it passes by means of a bushing 17 of mica, .or other suitable insulating material. The; bolt lf3, is in like manner insulated from tbepwell of the aperture 11 by means of n. YSiililfr. bashing 18, the head of said bolt being insulated from the head `of the barrel-like member 7 by means of a suitable insulating washer 18a.

The part 3 of the splice bar is provided atits inner end with a lateral projection 19 corresponding with the projection 4 on the part 2, and said projection 19 is provided with an aperture 20 which is tapered for a portion of its length to receive the tenon 5, the remaining portion of said aperture being threaded, as shown at 21, to receive the externally threaded nut 22 adapted to screw thereinto, said nut being internally threaded to screw onto the threaded boltthe tenons and 10 of part 2 are caused to` enter the sockets 20 and 24 of part 3. Previous to joining said parts provision is made for insulating the meeting ends thereof by placing between said ends a layer or filling strip 27 of insulating material which is cut to conform to the shape of the meeting ends of the splice bar parts and is apertured tol permit of the passage of the tenons 5 and 10 therethrough. Then the parts of the splice bar have been placed with their ends together and with the tenons of one partl in the sockets of the other part as described,

said parts are rigidly coupled'by passing the tapered bolts 12 and 14 through the taf pered apertures (5 and 11 and screwing onto the ends of said bolt-s the nuts 22 and 26 respectively, said nuts being externally..

the partsfirmly together, and at the same time serving to lock the nuts against becoming accidentally unscrewed. Vhen the parts of the splice bar shall have become joined, as above described, said parts will be perfectly insulated'by the filling strip 27 of insulating material between the ends thereof,lby the bushings of insulating material in the tapered apertures around the tapered tie bolts and by the sleeves 28 of insulating material around .the tenons 5 and' 10 )which are placed on said tenons before they-are entered the sockets 20 and 24, or

weasel;

which may be placed in said sockets as bush- .ings before the tenons are entered. By this arrangement the complementary parts 2 and 3 of the. splice bar are insulated electrically- `to receive the transverse bolts which join the bars to the ends of the rail. The part 3 of the splice bar is provided with an integral bolt 29 projecting from the inner face thereof, as shown in F ig. 7, adapted to pass through the end of the rail and through the. part 2 of the opposite splice bar. It

\ is necessary to form this-bolt integral with the part 3 for thereason that the presence of the lateral projection 19 prevents the passage of a separa-te bolt through the splice bar part at that point. The outer ends of the splice bars are joined to the web of the rail by the transverse bolts 30.

In connecting the rails to effect an insulation o-f the joint in accordance with our invention, the abutting ends of the rails are electrically insulatedy by placing therebetweena dividing layer or strip 31 of insulating material which isof the samev shape in cross section as the rail; the 'ends of the rails are then connected by ,meansv of the two part splice bars which are bolted thereto by the transverse bolts 29 and 30, as in ordinary practice. By this arrangement the ends of the rails are rigidly coupled together and areat the same time perfectly insulated electrically from each other, the arrangement being such that the parts of the spliceibars or coupling members which are fastened to the ends of the rails are' of the saine electric value as the rails themselves, obviat-ing the necessity of placing insulating material between Vthe splice bars and-the rails where` the rubbing or abrasive action incident to the movement between said parts soon destroys said insulation, and renders the joint' ineffective vin arresting the flow of an electric current carried by the rails.

Notwithstanding the fact that the splice bars which we have shown herein are divided transversely, the manner of connecting them, as shown herein, renders said bars sufficiently rigid to firmly support the joint between the rail ends. The lower bolts 14 crossing between the depending parts 7 and 23 below the longitudinal axis of the rails and tying said members together,-serve as the tension members of' a truss format-ion. It will further be understood that because of the long bearings afforded by reason of the tapered tenons of one part of the splice- -bars entering theI correspondingly shaped sockets in the other part, and the further fact 'that said parts are connected by two ty` have been. coupled together.

tween the joined parts of the splicebars is obviated, thereby entirely overcoming any liability of injury to the insulation which is employed to electrically separate said parts.

The heads 16 upon the lower` bolts 14 employed in the structure shown in Figs.' l yto 7 inclusive, prevent the possibility of said bolts being drawn too far into the tapered apertures 11 by the'strain to whichithey are subjected, obviating a possible loosening of the joint through that cause.v It. is only necessary to unscrew the nuts from the transverse bolts 29 and 30 to enable the splice' bars to be removed from the rails whenever desired, an arrangementwhich makes -it unnecessary to disturb the joint between the connected parts of saidv bars after they It will be noted that the insulated joint between the ends of the rails is coincident with the insulated joint between the connect-ed parts o f the splice bars when said bars are secured to the rails, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, thereby making effective the electrical separation between the ends of the rails.

In Figs. 8 to 10 inclusive, the tenons shown in the other views through which the tie bolts pass, are omitted, and said bolts are formed integral with the lateral projectionet on the part 2 of the splice bar, while the tapered sockets in the part Stare of a diameter to snugly receive saidgrbolts within the' insulated bushings 32 therein, the bolts passing entirely through saidI sockets and Vreceiving upon their threaded ends the nuts 33, there being a ,washer 34 of insulating material around each of said bolts against which said'nuts aie turned. The construction shown in Figs. 8 to 10 inclusive is sim` pler than that shown in the other views and may be found more desirable because of the lesser number of parts; the principle, however, is the same as that of the previously described construction, differing only therefrom in the physical embodiment of said principle.

Ve have shown what seems to be the preferred form of.v embodying our invention, but do not wish to be limited to the specific mechanical arrangements' illustrated herein,

as other forms of embodying our invention may be employed, without departing from the spirit thereof.

Having thus fully set forth our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by ILetters Patent, is

1. VAn insulated splice bar for insulating 1 rail joints; comprising two parts, one part having tapered tie-bolts, the other part having tapered sockets to receive said bolts and provided with threaded apertures communieating with s aid sockets,v externally and internally threaded nuts screwing onto said said tenons and with threaded'apertures communicating with said sockets, bolts passing through said tenons and through saidA sockets and apertures, externally and internally threaded nuts screwing onto said bolts and into said sockets, and insulating material between the parts of said splice bar and between the connecting members thereof to electrically insulate one part from the other.

An insulated splice bar for insulating rail joints, comprising two parts, one part having tapered` tie-bolts formed integral therewith, the other part having tapered sockets to receive said bolts which are disposed in substantially vertical alinement with the lower bolts under the base of the rail, insulating material between the parts of the bar and between the bolts and their lreceiving sockets, and nuts engaging said bolts for drawing the parts of the bar together. t

4. An insulated splice bar'for insulating rail joints, comprising two parts, one of which is provided with tapered tenons and with apertures passing through said. tenons,

' the other part being provided with tapered sockets .to receive said tenons and with threaded apertures communicating with said sockets, bolts passing through said tenons and through said sockets andapertures, ex-

t-ernally fand internally threaded nuts screw- 'ingjonto said bolts and into said sockets,

,and in slating material between the parts plice bar and, between the connectl nbers thereof to electrically insulate with, the other adjoining bar section having sockets to receive said bolts which arevdisposed in substantially vertical alinement with the lower bolts under the base of the rail, nuts upon the ends of said bolts for,

drawing the adjoining splice bar sections together, a transverse bolt projecting from one splice bar section passing through the .rail end and through the splice bar on the opposite side of the rail, and insulating means betweeny said connected parts.

AG. In an insulated rail joint, the rails, separate splice bar sections foreach rail, the adjoining sections having lateral projections above the base of the rail and barrellike members formed integral with said projections depending below the bottoms of the rails, bolted couplings between said projections and between said barrellike members, `an integral transverse bolt extending from one of each pair of the adjoining splice bar sections through the end of the rail land engaging the splice bar section on the opposite side thereof, and insulating means between said parts.

7; In an insulated rail joint, the rails, separate splice bar sections for each rail, the adjoining bar sections having coinciding lateral projections above the rail base, longitudinal tie bolts joining said projections, integral members on said lateral projections of said splice bar sections embracing the base of the rails and depending below the bottoms thereof in a truss formation, a tension member passing through the membersl of the truss, means for placing stress upon said tension member, transverse tie bolts connecting the opposite splice bar sections 4through the rail ends', said bolts being inte- IVILLIAM H, SELLEVV. lEDIVARD A. EVERETT.

lVitnesses:

E. S. IVHEELEI, I. Gr. I-IoWLET'r. 

